The young woman at the center of a social media debate on sexual harassment said yesterday she recorded and exposed the men because she was fed up at being a frequent victim of such acts.
Speaking with CNC3 yesterday, Karian Forde said she while she had been a victim of such acts before, she was stunned by this most recent one and felt she had to act against it by publicly shaming the men and subsequently posting the video on social media. The video subsequently went viral
Recalling that she had just left the gym and was sweating as she walked through the Brian Lara Promenade in Port-of-Spain, Forde said the three men’s harassment stunned her into action.
“They talked about how wet my private area was, they talked about what they wanted to do to it ... they talked about, just really lewd and ridiculous things,” she said.
“It was just the straw that broke the camel’s back I think. I was just really fed up of it and the fact that they were following me I said no I have to tape it and I need to show people how annoying it is.
She said she hoped her act would help the country rethink such acts more seriously.
“I would like to see some form of national discussion happen out of it and really educate young men, older men, men in general, that this is not a compliment, it is not something nice, women don’t feel good when you give us those types of compliments. We feel scared, we’re angry, we’re hurt, and it’s the most uncomfortable feeling.”
Forde’s comments came even as the Ministry of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (Gender and Child Affairs) condemned the act in the video. The ministry cautioned that women and girls must be allowed to walk the streets in peace and urged that they be treated with dignity and respect.
Saying sexual harassment was against the law, the ministry said according to the Against the Person Act, Chapter11:08. Section 30A, harassment included alarming the person or causing the person distress by engaging in a course of conduct including, for example, making contact with the person whether by gesture, directly, verbally by telephone, computer, post or in any other way, or giving offensive material to the person. In order for the conduct to constitute harassment, it must be carried out on at least two occasions, the release said, adding it carried a $2,000 fine or six months imprisonment upon summary conviction.
It added that a person who indecently assaulted another was guilty of an offence and was liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years for a first offence and to imprisonment for ten years for a subsequent offence.